It has long been known to use magnets to temporarily affix lights to ferromagnetic surfaces, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,106, Shop light, 4 Sep. 1984.
Magnets, typically rare-earth magnets, are also used in a variety of mounts (e.g., for cameras) to provide a desirably secure attachment between mount components while permitting relative movement/reorientation of the components. Some such mounts include components with corresponding concave and convex spherical features magnetically held in mating engagement, fore example: EP 1,433,996, Electric light for Work, 30 Jun. 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,521, Direction adjustable camera with magnetic mounting, 22 Mar. 2011; US 2004/0118985, Magnetic mounting assembly, 24 Jun. 2004; US 2005/0247845, Support for computer peripheral device, 10 Nov. 2005; and US 2009/0196597, Mounting and Positioning System, 6 Aug. 2009.
Magnets are also used to temporarily affix devices (e.g., lights) to clothing, for example, as described in US 2014/0285355, Multi-directional, multi-functional, wearable safety lighting apparatus, 25 Sep. 2014. Commercially available personal lights, temporarily affixable to clothing with magnets, include: the Guardian Angel™ Light Bar-Magnet Mount (425, Inc., Wisconsin); the Zyntony Ra™ (Zyntony, Inc., Utah); the Energizer™LED Magnet Light (Energizer Brands, LLC); and the Lucina™ Magnetic wearable light (Palomar S.r.I., Italy).
The SP Gadgets™ Flex Mount (SP United Vertriebs GmbH) is intended for temporarily securely affixing a camera to a sail (e.g., a conventional sail, a parasail, etc.), tarp etc. The SP Gadgets™ Flex Mount includes two “textile discs” each having four “very strong magnets”. Applicant understands that the magnets in the two textile discs are in similar spaced apart arrangements such that in use on a sail, for example, a textile disc is positioned on each side of the sail, and each magnet is magnetically fixed to a corresponding magnet in the other textile disc. The portions of the textile discs between the magnets are sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes to the sail shape caused by changing use conditions (e.g., wind strength).